To enhance formal access and representation of youth non-government organisations in the processes of the UN Environment Programme, the youth constituency together with the Civil Society Unit (CSU) of UNEP is organising a Webinar on how youth NGOs can become accredited to UNEP.

Webinar! 

29th April 2020, 13.00 UTC, RSVP at - www.youthenvironment.org/webinars 

The webinar will be a great opportunity to speak directly with 

Aurora Cheung and Laetitia Zobel, two experts on civil society engagement from UNEP.

Content: 

• Answers to your questions on engagement in processes at UNEP

• Advantages of accreditation

• Answers to your questions on the requirements, documents and application process

What is accreditation? What are the benefits?

In short, it is a method of “formalisation” of the relationship between a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) - in this case your youth NGO - to the Secretariat, in this case the UNEP Secretariat. UNEP process provides an excellent platform for the participation of CSOs not only at the national level as stakeholders responsible for the implementation of the environmental processes, but also at the decision making level ensuring their participation at the negotiation sessions such as the UNEA.

Accredited CSO representatives can -

• participate as delegates to the official sessions of the UNEAs and related meetings (that is you can send delegates to the negotiations) and its subsidiary bodies to bring the voices of their members to the international arena

• make official submissions on behalf of their NGOs to UNEP process

• be stakeholders to the processes on UNEP as mandated under different processes

Is accreditation required in order to be a member of the youth constituency?

No. As was stated in the membership-form, all formal and informal child-led, youth-led, and child-and-youth-serving public interest federations, unions, organisations, platforms, associations, councils, networks, movements, mechanisms, structures are welcome to join the youth constituency. Accreditation serves a formal relationship between the Secretariat and the NGOs, and it is recommended that eligible NGOs apply for it.

How long will the accreditation process take?

Unlike UNFCCC accreditation processes (which can last for more than an year), the accreditation to UNEP is very efficient and may take around 2-3 weeks upon the reception of the documents. Colleagues at the UNEP Secretariat will help expediting the process for youth NGOs (for those who meet the criteria), as appropriate.

In case you are interested to have your NGO accredited, RSVP now for the webinar!